Jerzy DUDEK

 Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek will be forever remembered for one night in his Liverpool career, but his six year stay in England provided plenty of highs and lows. When Sander Westerveld's late error gifted Bolton a win in August 2001, Gerard Houllier knew he had to act quickly, and he sensationally brought in two goalkeepers on the same day, the 31st August; Dudek, for £4.85m from Feyenoord, and 20-year-old Chris Kirkland for £6m from Coventry City. The Pole was thrown straight into Premier League action, and a 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa, before establishing himself in the Liverpool goal with a series of impressive performances as The Reds reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and finished runners-up in the Premiership against the backdrop of Houllier's heart problems. Dudek played 49 times in his first season in English football and many regarded him as the best goalkeeper in the country. Jerzy graduated from his number 12 shirt to take Liverpool's coveted number 1 jersey for 2002/03, which proved to be a topsy-turvy one for the club and their goalkeeper.

Liverpool were top of the league in November, but errors from Dudek against Middlesbrough and a much more high profile one against Manchester United contributed to the team's loss of form, and Kirkland was drafted in to replace the Pole. However, an injury to the young English keeper in an FA Cup clash at Crystal Palace in late January brought Dudek back, and he achieved redemption with an excellent performance, and the man of the match award, as Liverpool beat Manchester United 2-0 to win the League Cup in Cardiff. That was the highlight of a disappointing campaign, where Jerzy played 46 times but Liverpool failed to qualify for the Champions League after a last day defeat to Chelsea. Dudek was still keeping out Kirkland as 2003/04 kicked off, but poor performances undermined Liverpool's fledgling title challenge and solace couldn't be found in any of the cup competitions. (Mark Jones)

Jerzy had played 38 times as Liverpool achieved their 'minimal acceptable target' of Champions League qualification in the 2003/04 season; something that couldn't save Houllier his job. The arrival of Rafa Benitez brought with it fresh rumours of new goalkeepers arriving at Anfield, most notably Valencia's Santiago Canizares, but Benitez started his first campaign in England with Jerzy between the sticks, until the start of October when Kirkland overtook him in the manager's plans. The young Englishman played as Liverpool squeezed their way through the Champions League group stage, but once again were inconsistent in the league. When Kirkland's inevitable injury curse struck again, Benitez snapped up young keeper Scott Carson from Leeds as backup to Dudek.

Errors against Portsmouth, Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen didn't inspire confidence in the Pole, but he was the best Liverpool had, and he played against Juventus and Chelsea as Liverpool made their improbable march towards Istanbul and the Champions League Final with AC Milan. Fifty-one seconds into the game, Jerzy was beaten by Paolo Maldini. By half time Hernan Crespo had extended the lead twice more. Dudek would make three saves from Andriy Shevchenko that would prove crucial. The first, with the score still at 3-0, was from a free-kick, the second, an improbable close range save late on in extra time after Liverpool's amazing comeback, and the third confirmed the Reds as Champions of Europe; Dudek (who had already saved from Andrea Pirlo in the shootout) palmed away Shevchenko's penalty to spark delirious scenes (see photo above), and win Liverpool their fifth European Cup. Dudek's 'wobbly legs' antics during the shootout (a tactic inspired by Bruce Grobbelaar during the 1984 Final) and his subsequent saves ensured him of a place in Liverpool legend, but not of his place in the team.

Benitez signed Pepe Reina that summer, and although he would remain a Liverpool player for two more seasons, Dudek would play just twelve more games for the club, making his final bow in a defeat at Portsmouth in late April 2007, before joining Real Madrid on a free transfer that summer. He won't be remembered as the best goalkeeper in Liverpool's history, but he's a man forever connected with one magical night. (Mark Jones)